Saturday, March 31, 2012

I was asked by my riding buddy Patrick to help contribute an article about foldies recently in the hi-society lifestyle magazine in Spore, Storm. Had fun writing and here it is! My little contribution to help get more folks on small wheels.

Friday, March 30, 2012

After some off road riding last month, my Tikit suffered a front tire puncture. It was the slowest of leaks but eventually, the tire was flat one morning. For some reason, I have used up all my 16" tubes and hence had to patch the tube.

Close inspection revealed lots of tiny prickles that have pierced through the Kojak and I had to take a tweezer to remove at least 7-8 of those nasties. When I eventually had to patch the tube, there were 3 leaks and hence required 3 patches. Anyone who first see the very patched up tube will say I'm a Cheap Charlie but I rather be known as one than not being able to ride my Tikit!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

It was rather interesting to receive an unearthly morning call from my good friend Nick (a master carpenter) yesterday. I've been thinking about him lately but to get a call at 6+ in the morning was a little more than I bargained for. The bad news was that his work van sprung a leak in one of the radiator hoses. The good news was that it happened just outside my home so he could coax his very overheated van to drive there.

So here was Nick nice and early feeling rather sheepish at his unannounced arrival at my door and being British, he never refuses a hot cup of tea. At 8am, we drove to my regular mechanic, KL Motors at Willetton, who happened to walk in 2 mins after we arrived. He took a look at it and shook his head, saying its one of those hard to access hose and he wasn't sure if he had a spare one that will fit this 20 years young Mitsubishi. But he could see we were desperate and so he kindly gave it a go. He struggled with it for a while and even managed to find a part in his backyard. So one hour later and for only $80, Nick had his van running again.

Trouble was he had cancelled all his jobs for the day not knowing how long the repair would take. Being a great friend, he asked if there was any carpentry work he could do for my home. A wonderful mate indeed and we did some fixing and repainting of my roof.

But most significantly, he put up what I always wanted for a long time - a miniature bicycle given to me, mounted on my roof displayed proudly for all to see! Seems there is a divine reason for any kind of season we may be facing, the cold winters or the hot summers of our life when we walk with Him.

What started to be a potential bad day for Nick turned out to be a most pleasant one of great fellowship and an unexpected blessing for the both of us.

Romans 8:28

New Living Translation (NLT)

And we know that God causes everything to work togetherfor the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

The wet view, day after day after day from our hotel room window Pic - Roland

Pic - Roland

Pic - Nick Wong

We all LOVE Taiwoon (the guy in the pic) too! Pic - Roland

Delicious Mochi Pic - Roland

Taiwanese comfort food Pic - Roland

Pic - TW

Small gift of our big appreciation to George & Cindy for making this happen!

It rained the whole night and it rained the whole day. In fact, it kept raining for 3 days until we left for the airport. Despite the wet, cold and miserable weather, we made the best of our stay in exciting Taipei.

Pic - Roland

Our hotel was a nice 25 min walk by the river from the Danshui Train Station and that meant we could explore the city as we liked, at least the indoor attractions.

The first day our bus came to take us to a famous tourist spot - Jiufen. This is named after 9 families who used to stay in their village in the 1800s in the Qing Dynasty and they always ordered 9 portions thus the name Jiufen. It was not until a movie shot there in the 1989 made the place famous.

It was pouring when we arrived at Jiufen and and loads of tourists were there as well. Big crowds are not exactly my cup of tea but this place is fascinating enough with plenty of quaint shops selling curious, souvenirs and all types of food.

Papa Mike treated us to fantastic fried prawn balls and our mission was to try everything possible. Of course we did not succeed but we did have a taste of some very interesting food.

Pic - TW

I had grilled snails which I still can't decide if I enjoyed that. The shaved peanuts crepe with ice cream was delicious.

Pic - CW

The big bowl of soupy beef noodles was of course satisfying on a cold and rainy day and we had traditional steamed radish cakes which was mildly enjoyable.

Pic - Esther

The other thing on our agenda is to visit bike shops and we attacked 4 shops including the Bike Friday store in Taipei. They had custom made Tikit Front Derailleur hanger which we grabbed! Celia got Pearl Izumi bike shorts for only US$50 on sale and together, we must have single handedly lifted the Taiwanese economy in one evening at least in the Merida bike shop.

Pic - CW

We took a trip to see Taipei 101, once the world's tallest building but it was pointless to go up to the viewing tower as the weather was really bad. It is a huge shopping centre filled with the best upmarket stores equal to that of London and New York. I had fun window shopping.

A real treat was discovering that one section of the Taiwan International Bike Show was nearby so we went to check that out. Its easy to get all biked out with so many bikes, parts and accessories on display. My interest in e-bikes were spurred when I tried the latest pedal assist one from Europe.

It was great to discover that there is a free shuttle to the main section of the Bike Show and we went to check it out and collect our free gifts - much appreciated bike scarfs! The displays here were numerous until I was seriously sick of bicycles.

One fantastic buy was a beautiful black pannier bag from New Looxs. This is a company from Holland that had fashionable bags of all shapes, colours and sizes that can fit onto bike racks. We spent quite a bit of time looking at their products and ended up parting with our money with great delight!

Needless to say, we enjoyed the fantastic food Taipei had to offer. We had to go to Shilin Night Market and sampled the famous fried chicken steak. It was a huge portion and greedy me should have shared it. There are over 500 stalls so staying here every night for a year is just about enough time to try everything.

Joshua and I got tired of waiting for the rain to stop and did a spot of wet riding to the Fisherman's Wharf, about 4km north of our hotel. Yes, it may be cold and wet and we had great fun nevertheless. It was a pity we could not cycle more around Taipei's excellent bike network and thus, this begs for a return trip.

We stopped for a second breakfast at a local soya milk shop and were so impressed with the kindness of the owner who gave us more food. She wanted us to try another kind of local bread and gave it to us free of charge! Popping into another bike shop near our hotel saw the whole gang there. The poor owner was visibly overwhelmed by us however the constant ringing of his cash register, was something he could not complain.

Pic - CW

It was sad to finally pack and leave for the airport. But we dropped Roland and May first to the hi speed bullet train as they extended their holiday south to Kaoshing. One challenge we had was whether we could check in all our stuff as we were all overloaded due to excessive shopping. Fortunately, Desmond and Shelby had some spare and so did George (he left his Moulton for extra special modifications) and everyone managed to board properly.

Pic - CW

The 8 days we spent in Taiwan were surreal and I couldn't believe it went by so quickly. This was a cycling adventure of a lifetime, experiencing so much and for the first time, high altitude riding for me. Flying downhill at ultra high speeds with numerous hair pin curves is every cyclist's wish come through, and for a good 50km! Being claustrophobic, going through the tunnels will always be a challenge for me but it gets better with practice, so they say. Too many highlights to mention but perhaps the key one I will not forget is making new friends and sharing a special camaraderie as we suffered and enjoyed scaling Wulin and descending quickly together. Add in the fun, laughter and all the food we shared, this is what it means to be truly blessed.

Taiwan, we will be back hopefully in Dec!

Pic - TW

Update 4 Apr - A presentation evening of the Taiwan ride will be held on 14 Apr at 7pm in Singapore. Should be fun with about 40 folks!

Monday, March 26, 2012

It was to be a late start out of Hualien today after such a long ride yesterday. Today's route was an easy 40km north to Heren Train station. Set off was 9am and that gave everyone plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast.

Pic - CW

The early birds of course had time to catch the amazing sunrise and to welcome the morning catch of Sun fish coming in at the beach. These fish are huge and required a tractor to load it up the trucks!

Pic - Joeel

I managed to sneak up to the rooftop terrace of Bayview Hotel at the eleventh hour and was rewarded with a magnificent view of the beautiful coastline and a bonus of the nearby F16 Airforce base which fascinated me.

Our total luggage exploded in the hotel lobby when we gathered and we took some time to load all our gear on the mothership. It included last night's shopping so that explained the additional stuff although the culprits were in denial as to the sudden increased in luggage.

Pic - CW

We finally saddled off along the beautiful bike path that hugged the coast for 2-3km before turning slightly inland. It was fun cycling together in the highest spirit, stopping to take lots of pics and the experience seemed to be like one of those relax Park Connector ride at least at this stage.

Everyone had fun just goofing around with the usual LSCG poses and there was really no hurry to make tracks. It was truly an easy morning.

Pic - CW

I was very pleased to have Joeel take a pic of me with the famous Sun Fish marker but I had to queue as many were in front of me.

We then rode on the highway northwards towards Taroko National Park and it wasn't so bad as the cycle lane was nice and wide. It was great fun to ride together in a huge convoy and we passed through the outskirts of town.

Pic - CW

Chris stopped for pics as usual, this time at a heart stopping "shady" spot selling Betel Nuts. The sales girls here are well known for their outfits, or lack off.

Pic - CW

Once again, we were grateful to break yet at another 7/11 store, the de facto oasis for cyclists in Taiwan. But we didn't need too much refuelling as it was an easy ride today and because of the big buffet breakfast.

Pic - Esther

Here, Ying Chang kindly lend me front and rear lights for the upcoming tunnels and his thoughtfulness was deeply appreciated. I also enjoyed good chats with Esther and others while riding as we could do two abreast thanks to the wide cycle path. Our next tourist stop is at a Mochi/Taiwanese Sweets outlet and it was fun to taste all those delectable goodies. The service staff were very nice in allowing us to sample without obligation.

Of course, many of us obliged and bought lots. Its amazing how we eat so much during this trip and there is no truth when people say such trips = weight loss. At least not with Love Cycling Spore Group, always true to its motto to eat, ride and photo!

We pedalled on until we came to the entrance of the Taroko National Park and made a right turn crossing the beautiful gorge. At last we were riding on unexplored territory once again and it was special to see the mountains on one side and the sea on the other.

This marked the end of the level coastal ride and the start of more climbs. Although we have been through harder gradients a few days ago, it felt tougher to me somehow, perhaps due to my injured knee. But gaining elevation is always a guarantee for great views and indeed, we drunk the scenery before us deeply.

The road now hugs tightly the steep cliffs and offered a bird's eye view of the sea, surrounding cliffs and the rocky beach below us. All of us were busy snapping pics trying our utmost to capture the amazing beauty before us.

I have seen a lot of coastal scenery in my travels from the Oregon Coast to the Great Ocean Road of Victoria, and what Taiwan offers is right up there in the awesomeness scale. Particularly interesting is how the steep cliffs meet the deep emerald blue sea at such sharp angles, and with the shimmering sunlight basking upon such features, the beauty is beyond words.

Pic - Esther

By now many in the group were more confident in tackling those mountain tunnels but the traffic was much heavier. For safety sake, we went in as a group for better traffic visibility and it helped that all the tunnels here were well lighted. The safety briefing from Ying Chang was really useful too.

Pic - Roland

Still, the echo and amplified sound from trucks an cars made it a bit unnerving and poor Kimi was visibly shaken. An assuring voice saw her come out ok and Chris and I made sure we shepherd the ladies through many of these dark journeys.

We stopped at several scenic sights all special and different in their own ways before finally reaching the end of our ride, the Heren Train Station. Our motherbus was waiting there and so was the truck that had our boxes. Once again, we had to pack our foldies into the boxes but the full size bikes were exempted.

Pic - CW

Only then could all 17 bikes fit into the back of the truck. When the last bike was packed into the truck, I felt a sense of sadness as it marked the official end of our ride and we commemorated that with a group pic.

Pic - TW

There was a sense of quiet among everyone as we boarded the bus for the long ride back to the capital city of Taipei. Many felt asleep until we hit the lunch spot. The best part was behind us, but we were still determined to have fun! Lunch was taken at a famous restaurant along the highway and it was amazing how low prices are. A nice lunch deal with a huge piece of chicken, rice, veggies, soup and even tea costs only US$2.

Pic - CW

One touristy stop that we made was at a cold spring, as opposed to hot springs. There is supposed to be only 2 in this world - one in Taiwan and the other in Italy. It was refreshing to have a dip of cold water when the temperature itself was about 20c but many were just happy to soak their feet.

Pic - Roland

Everyone got excited when the natural face spa was discovered. It promised to magically remove all wrinkles, blemishes, increase brain cells so we all had fun soaking our faces in.

Pic - Esther

When rumours had it that it could even put hair back on former crowning glories, there was a beeline for it. My faithful and brave buddy, Papa Mike and I volunteered to be the Guinea Pigs. We had nothing to lose...

Pic - Nick

As we drove toward Taipei, the weather got wet and gloomy. Entering the capital city felt overwhelming with all the tall skyscrapers and traffic clogged roads. It seemed forever before we got anywhere and the first stop was to drop off Ying Chang. He was staying with his family so we all bided him a sad but grateful goodbye before he cycled off into the night.

Pic - CW

We finally reached Dansui, our base for 3 nights at the La Flower Sea Resort. The temperature was a freezing 10c and the wet weather made it even colder. This hotel was located just by the river and offers a beautiful seaview. However, to reach the lobby meant climbing a long flight of stairs and this was made even more difficult with our bike boxes. Amazingly, they had like a luggage travel-lator and with everyone chipping in to help, we settled into our rooms with bikes all safe in no time.

The end of our ride has finally arrived and what an experience it has been for all of us. Somehow being through so much joy and suffering together has in the words of Esther, "Made us family!" We enjoyed a lovely hot pot dinner before retiring into our warm and cosy rooms, hoping the cold and wet weather would change. We have 3 whole days in exciting Taipei ahead of us and we intended to make the best of it. One star attraction awaited us - The 2012 Taipei International Bike Show but for now, the bed beckoned and we obeyed.